Super Duper Alice Cooper Documentary Premieres In Edgewater April 30

A Super Duper Documentary

New Film on Alice Cooper Debuts April 30 in Edgewater

By Brian Aberback

“Super Duper Alice Cooper,” an insightful new documentary on the iconic shock rocker, will be premiering in several area theaters starting on April 30. The “doc opera” style film is the latest work from premier hard rock and heavy metal documentary filmmakers Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen (Banger Films). But you don’t need to be a Cooper fan, or even a hard rock fan, to be taken in by this captivating glimpse into one of the most fascinating characters in music.

The film traces Cooper’s rise from preacher’s son to rock stardom, including a treasure trove of footage of his macabre yet entertaining live shows, including hits like “I’m Eighteen,” “School’s Out” and “Welcome to My Nightmare.” The documentary also explores Cooper’s inability to separate himself from the character he played onstage and how that led to the alcohol abuse and drug addictions that nearly destroyed him.

The “doc opera” format is refreshing compared to other rock documentaries. It uses archival imagery, vintage horror film footage, and 3D-like animation to tell the story. At no point does Cooper, or any other commentators, appear on-screen.

I recently spoke with Sam Dunn

Q: What impressed you the most about Alice Cooper?

A: The average band has five good years. The fact that he's here in 2014 and still out there putting on a great performance is an accomplishment in itself. His shows are a history lesson. Also, even though the film we’ve created really does emphasize Alice’s theatrics and the spectacle he created, I hope the film points people toward the music the band made. There’s some innovative songwriting that went along with the visual style.

Q: Did Alice have trouble opening up about any parts of his life?

A: It took him quite a bit of work to reflect deeply on certain periods of his career. When you’re creating a documentary about someone you want them to step out of their role as a performer. You’re trying to get to the human person. It took a bit of work especially when we started to address his drug addiction in the late 70s and early 80s. This was a story he’d never told before. The most gripping moment in the film for me is when Alice is at rock bottom and freebasing. He had reached a dark and devastating place in his life, more than any of us knew prior to us making this film. It gave me an even greater respect for him that he managed to pull himself out of that place.

Q: How did making a doc opera compare to producing a traditional documentary?

A: We didn’t realize that it was going to be the hardest film we’d ever make. The reason it was so difficult is because we approached it in this doc opera style. The first step is basically creating a radio play. We recorded all the interviews on audio, nothing was filmed. Then we pieced together the dialogue according to the treatment that we had written. Once we had that radio play we started to add the photographw sand footage and gradually our graphics team started to do their treatments. When that happens you have to go back and adjust the radio play. There were some very late nights. A lot of sweat went into creating this style. It took two-and-a-half years from the beginning of research to release.  

Q: It only hit me three-quarters of the way into the film that it was all archival footage and no one was filmed in the present day.

A: That’s very encouraging to hear. The goal is to have people engaged and engrossed in the story of Alice Cooper regardless of how we decided to tell that story. I think people are refreshed by seeing a documentary that isn’t driven by talking head interviews.   

Q: What’s next on your project list?

A: We’re going to be creating a film with Soundgarden which we’re really excited about and we’re in conversations with a big, legendary metal band that we can’t disclose just quite yet. We’re also doing a multi-part biography series profiling the biggest rock and metal musicians that will be airing on VH1 early next year. A lot of bands are still playing to huge audiences and we don't know what their stories are. As long as that's the case we're going to carry the metal torch.

Official “Super Duper Alice Cooper” Trailer and More Information: www.superduperalicecooper.com

New Jersey Premier Dates and Locations:

April 30

Edgewater Multiplex Cinemas, 339 River Road

Manville 12-Plex, 180 North Main St.

South Orange 5, 1 Sopac Way

May 1

Digiplex Sparta, 25 Center St.

Digiplex Rialto Westfield,  250 E Broad St.

Additional Banger Films Rock Documentaries

“Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey” (2005)

“Global Metal” (2008)

“Iron Maiden: Flight 666 (2009)

“Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage” (2010)

“Metal Evolution” (VH1 Series, 2011)